Lake Huron In Western Ontario

I’m on a lifetime mission to see all five Great Lakes. This summer Lake Huron was the destination.

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A hundred miles north of Detroit, across the border where a customs officer quizzed me at length about firearms in the RV (there were none), I drove through the wide wheat fields and wind turbine farms of western Ontario with the steering wheel cranked to the left against a stiff breeze. The plan was a week-long stay at Pinery Provincial Park, a jewel of the Canadian park system. It’s an enormous deep forest park, with 10 kilometers of sandy beach front along Lake Huron.

The camp sites at Pinery were remote. Seriously remote. You couldn’t see your neighbors. Or find your campsite among a lightly marked maze of paved and dirt roads. Access to the beach or visitor center were miles away. If you like sitting alone in the woods with no cell service, this place is for you!

Not excited for a hermetic week, I left Pinery after only one night and headed a few clicks north to the lovely lakeside village of Bayfield. It was refreshing to see all the small towns in Western Ontario alive and vibrant. Plenty of folks milling about, no empty storefronts, and everything clean and tidy. I attribute the continuing success of these local shops to the absence of any Walmart stores. Traveled several days in this region and never saw a single big box store.

Of course, everything in Canada was on the metric system. In case you’re wondering, the RV is 3.35 meters tall and 80 kph is 50 mph. I still don’t know how many liters go into a gallon, but it seemed like gas was cheaper here than in the States. I found a pretty lakeside resort filled with summer cabins and cottages to spend the rest of the week.

The resort had a private beach on Lake Huron, whose waters showed ever-changing shades of blue/green and gray. Huron is a vast freshwater sea, and somewhere in the far, far distance lies the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

The pretty little town of Bayfield was a short bike ride away and kept me entertained all week.

What a joy to indulge in a civilized lunch on the veranda of a historic hotel instead of grilling another campsite meal of burgers and hot dogs!

Along with the shopping district, Bayfield has a harbor and several public beaches to explore.

The town sits high on a cliff overlooking Lake Huron. Beach access is provided by a stair-master challenge.

I whiled away several afternoons in public parks. When the weather is overcast, the horizon waters of Lake Huron become indistinguishable from the clouds.

Bayfield was founded in the 1830’s and residents have had plenty of time to build a lovely community of homes.

Every day the dog and I walked the shoreline of Lake Huron. It’s what I came for, after all.

Alas, it was time to bid farewell to Huron and head to the southern reaches of Ontario. If you have a chance, come visit this area of Western Ontario!

Village Of Bayfield